Spacebar Jig; crazy idea?

It’s wild to think how many problems enthusiast have to end up solving on our own sometimes. The things we do for the pursuit of the betterment of this hobby!

I think making a jig and demonstrating it would probably be great at helping influence others to try it themselves. The more people who get this idea means more people will make better iterations we can all learn from. Maybe eventually this knowledge will trickle through to manufacturers.

Like think of prelubed switches. They wouldn’t exist unless enthusiasts lubed switches and you know what? Before enthusiasts lubed switches, one of the main reasons we didn’t see that many (or any) prelubed switches was also because manufactures didn’t know where to lube and how much lube to use. Now they have thousands of example to reference and integrate into their production methods.

I’d love to take a look at your spacebar jig and try one myself :thinking:

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and i could finally un-banana some kbdfans EC bars. though i guess most people stick to official Topre and don’t have these issues

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Fortunately I do not have a lot of experience with bent spacebars so please forgive my ignorance. If most of the bending would be curving up due to shrinkage, so one warpage only in one plane.
2 metal plates clamped together on the top and bottom of the spacebar then apply heat via Sous Vide machine (which is a fantastic idea @jshufelt).

Quick mockup I only had one metal ruler but you can get the idea. Dunk something like this in sous vide pot of water at a certain temp depending on plastic for x minutes. The clamps don’t need to be super tight just enough for the bar to be flat.

Would be cool if something like these wood clamps came in all metal (heating wood could lead to warpage)

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I wonder if there is a worry about creating a new “flat” spot on the top of the spacebar when using a ruler up there. Obviously it would be better than deformations due to the clamps, but I wonder how much that could change the geometry of the spacebar.

I guess in theory it should straighten before it creates a new flat surface on the curve of the spacebar

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I know some heat/pressure processes use a sort of heat-resistant blanket to prevent flat spots and/or sticking; I wonder if something like that would work here. Basically something that can transmit the heat while being physically malleable to a point.

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Going wild here,
A mold the spacebar fits in that has heat applied to straighten the spacebar… This would be so troublesome for such a minor inconvenience lol

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Fair point regarding flat spots. A mold of the top of the bar so the contours remain in something like concrete then sandwich that against something flat with just enough force to flatten the spacebar. Or multiple runs if it is really bad. Just a thought though.

Edit just saw your reply we are thinking the same way lol

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At the end of the day it’s the keycap manufacturer that really should be making and using these straightening jigs in their factories (if they can’t mold a straight spacebar in the first place), rather than expecting end users to shell out substantial sums of money for a specialty straightening jig. A fancy $2000 straightening jig with custom-machined parts, integrated heaters, a fancy temperature controller that can do custom temperature profiles, etc. would be very feasible for a manufacturer to afford since they can spread that cost out over thousands of keysets, but it would be completely unreasonable for end users to own one that’s 1/10th the cost.

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Totally agreed, and I know I’ve seen the question asked before; “why don’t they just straighten them after cooling if they know the bars will warp?”

The question remains. :stuck_out_tongue:

Still. There are folks running switch break-in services with switch break-in machines you can buy on AliExpress; mostly 3d-printed stuff attached to a chunky motor. It makes me wonder how cheaply this could be done with reliable results. Sure, machined steel would be ideal, especially for doing this in a factory setting - but what about ceramic? Forged carbon?

Ideally those in the best position to be doing this would be doing it - and I think they will be, eventually - once it becomes a marketable thing, once the masses (relatively speaking) know it’s good.

I’m trying to imagine someone marketing lubed keyboard switches named after marsupials to teenage PC gamers in 1992…

I don’t think we’re all that far-off, though; who knows, we could be one really good YouTube video from lighting the fire under some manufacturer’s ass to have bragging rights to the first machine-straightened, verified-to-spec space bars.

Perhaps more likely is that some creative and passionate folks will figure out how to get it right, and then some other differently creative folks will figure out how to make that cheap and efficient.

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Lmao

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I mean… I do own a sous vide cooker. If I could just heat for 4-5 min and then hold the ends of the space bar on a flat surface for 1 min and get $10 after shipping and packaging…

Heck with sous vide, you could throw as many space bars as needed since you don’t have to worry about overheating.

I’m thinking you could do at least 10 space bars in an pot without any issue. With an overlap of batches, it seems like the time constraint is going to be holding them flat for 1 min as they cool off.

So, if I could find a reliable heat setting and a good flat surface (I think my quartz countertop would work well), I could net ($10 x 50 space bars per hour) $500/hour?

Okay, off to the store to pick up some heat resistant gloves.

Place your orders, gentlemen!

Nah, I’m too lazy. I’ll just pay someone else for it.

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PS. What temperature should I try for ABS?

hmmm… i just checked and it looks like ABS is nowhere near melting or getting soft at 210 degrees F, and I think that’s the limit of my cooker.

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Melting temp for ABS is 200°C (392°F)

But that’s for like liquid flowing ABS which would be a bit intense lol

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I see now. I found a resource that says it becomes pliable at 105c… that’s doable in the sous vide

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I wouldn’t think so. Once the water reaches 100C any extra energy you put into it will just be consumed by the phase change to steam, right? Liquid water can’t get to 105C unless it’s under high pressure. (e.g. my Anova only goes up to 211.5F, just below 100C)

I could try to test it but I dont have a space bar I’m willing to ruin. :frowning:

You can use salt to raise water’s boiling point

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But, I think owners of warped spacebars are salty enough :upside_down_face:

I’ll see myself to “Dad Jokes” Thread.

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Salt raises the boiling point by very, very little; it’s more effective at the other end of the scale (raising the freezing temp).

You could heat distilled water well past the boiling point without the phase change to steam, but it can be extremely (read: explosively) dangerous. I think there’s an old MythBusters where they did this in a microwave.